on being one of THOSE people

On Saturday night I met up with lil' sister and some of her roommates for dinner. While we were talking I mentioned that our Mom had said that our cat Zoe has been sick and they had to take her to the vet. We were talking about poor Zoe's plight with our niece (she only hates two things in life, kids and being ignored - two things she's endured quite a lot of lately) when Abbey's roommate started laughing hysterically. Apparently we were being ridiculous pet people who fuss and fawn all over their animals. But I just can't help it, how can you not fall instantly and madly in love with these little guys.

Not my pic - found it on the evil Pinterest where people post stuff without naming their sources.

They're so fluffy, I'm going to die! Gosh, I want a kitten.

flights of fancy

This wallpaper makes me a little week in the knees. Seriously, knitted wall paper? It's too much! Too bad the website is all in Norweigan, not that I'd be able to afford it or have anywhere to put it, alas. Thanks poppytalk for giving a girl something to dream about.

 

Oh, and Downton Abbey was really good but I stayed up way to late watching it. This season, the episodes are truly 2 hours long (w/o commercials). And not that I'm complaining, but that's kind of a lot - a lot of indulgent fabulousness, but still, I'm going to have to be a little more careful about getting an earlier start.

countdown to downton

Season 2 of Downton Abbey starts this Sunday and it's all I can think about. I watched the last episode of season 1 a couple of nights ago and was reminded of what I already knew, it's possibly the best thing I've ever seen on television. You can find the official countdown here. And you'll see that I'm quite serious.

Season 1 ended with the receipt of a telegram by the Earl of Grantham (patriarch of the Crawley family) in the middle of a garden party that England was at war with Germany, a war which would come to be known as World War I.

If you haven't watched season 1 yet, you've still got time. It's only 4 episodes long and can be watched online here and may be aired in its entirety before the the airing of the season 2 premier on Sunday night. I promise that you won't be disapointed.

And if you're wondering, where they came up with some of these plot lines that boarder on the outrageous? Sometimes life is stranger than fiction, check this out.

Finally, because I've watched it a dozen times and may watch it a dozen more before Sunday, the preview for season 2.

thrumming along

I stayed up way too late last night knitting. It's a sick obsession but I liken it to what video games must be, though I've never played them. I'm driven to get to the next part, to finish  this section, to reknit this section, to get it right and to make it better.

So I ventured into the soft and cozy world of thrumming. And because I don't expect anyone to know what that is I'll remind you of my knitter's gift guide: mittens edition. I included a pattern which actually turned out to be quite confusing. It seems the the author drinks a lot of wine while she knits, and I'm thinking it might have a two drink minimum.

As a sober knitter, I sought out another pattern, which I like much better but chose not to follow it either. I went rogue and made it up as I went, which is always risky (especially when you're attempting a matched pair of something). But so far so good. And maybe if we're all lucky I'll write it up.

Here's a picture from Yellow Dog Knitting - I think their patten is pretty good and isn't this the sweetest little mitten? I love how the thrums make lines of puffy little v's.

all tied up

So I know that I've made it perfectly clear that I think autumn is lover-ly. But in case you need another reason to love the season,

Scarves!

Oh, so pretty and versatile. Not only do they take off the edge off of a crisp autumn day or an over air conditioned room, but they delicately cover my decolletage and can add a little somethin-somethin to an outfit. Also, the right scarf can also function as a neck pillow - give it a try next time you're trying to sleep sitting up (like on a plane or at church).

Here's a nifty video I found on Creature Comforts with some interesting ways to tie a scarf. This definitely gave me a few new ideas.

flying circus

RAAAASPBERRIES! *

A few weeks ago on a be-a-u-tiful saturday afternoon, I traveled down to Bealeton, Virginia to visit the Flying Circus. I never imagined that such a place still existed and I fell in love with biplanes allover again. Is there anything more romantic? I think not. I've added a new item to my list of 30 things to do in my 30's - ride in a biplane. Now, if I can only locate a "flying instructor" who can treat inner ear troubles.

* see clip

what's making me happy this week

There's this podcast that I listen to. It's called Pop Culture Happy Hour and it's hosted by Linda Holmes, who has become a hero of sorts to me. She used to be a lawyer and now she's a pop culture blogger for NPR. She's witty and geeky and all together quite lovable.

Once a week, she gathers together some of her friends at NPR and they chat about pop culture. It's sort of like eaves dropping on a really great dinner party.

At the end of every episode, they go around the group and everyone shares something that is making them happy that week. It's really interesting to hear what makes people happy and often it's small or obscure things that truly bring the most pleasure.

So here it is,

what's making me happy this week

 

1) Jujy Fruit. I can't really explain why I like them. They're weird and always getting stuck in your teeth. But every time I see that yellow box, I want them. A couple weeks ago, I passed a display of Halloween candy and there was a big bag of little boxes of Jujy Fruit. I couldn't help myself. They were still soft so they didn't even stick to my teeth and I love eating them out of those teeny tiny boxes.


2) Geraniums. Last Saturday when the weather suddenly turned cold I decided to dig up my geraniums and bring them indoors. I may have been a bit  premature, but I have loved seeing them on my window sill in the mornings.

3) Knitting. I'm closing in on those owls now. 

Okay, okay so my happy things don't have much to do with pop culture, although I think I could make an argument for the jujy fruit, but, here's another

4) Revenge. This show is either really good or really bad but I'm seriously hooked. It's sort of Gossip Girl meets Lifetime movie. Yes, it's total trash, but if into that sort of thing... feel free to join me.

you make me feel like dancing

I think that I've made my obsession for SYTYCD pretty clear here, here and here. Well, last night was the season finale and if you're only going to watch a single episode from a season, this'd be the one to watch. They bring back all the best dances from the season and a number of the guest judges came back to. (I love you Jesse Tyler Furguson!)

It came as no surprise the lovely and talented Melanie won. She proved herself week after week - and I just love her style, grace and strength. So, in honor of a great season I present to you my very favorite dance: Total Eclipse of the Heart, danced by Melanie and Neil, choreographed by one of my faves, Mandy Moore. (BTW, I don't really remember this Neil kid but, Hello, I'll never forget him after this.)

This dance just melts my cold jaded heart. It makes me want to fall in love

the best thing to happen to summer since the sprinkler

Summer has been here for a few weeks now and though it won't be official for another few days, I'm ready for fall.  No, not really.  While I could go without the heat, the fun is just getting started.  There are watermelons to eat, popsicle and fireworks to enjoy.  And above all, So You Think You Can Dance is back.  Which is indubitably the best thing to happen to Summer since the sprinkler.

 
The past couple of weeks have been filled with all the manufactured drama of the auditions.  While there are some funny moments and impressive dancing, it's mostly lame and completely over-dramatic.  As much as I love this show, I hate the auditions.  The only thing I hate more than the auditions, is the way they are produced. 

Last thursday they introduced the top 20 and I think that it's going to be a good season.  I haven't chosen any favorites (neither personal favorites not predictions for winners) yet because I refuse to buy into to all that aforementioned drama and sentimentality.  But I am really excited to see them all dance tonight.  (I'm pretty sure it'd be sacrilegious to pray that my DVR will record like it's supposed to so I'm just going to keep my fingers crossed.)

only two things that money can't buy...

...and that's true love and home grown tomatoes. 

I am brimming with pride over my little garden.  And today, I harvested my very first tomato.  It tasted like love.  

 

It's a bit unorganized, much of my lettuce has bolted, my onions shriveled up in place, and I have more basil than I know what to do with.  But I'm just so thrilled that it grew and is producing.  It seems that my next challenge is protecting it from all the little critters that'd like eat it.  I've discovered the beginnings of an aphid infestation and the squirrels around here are notorious for stealing tomatoes off the vine.  Thankfully, the family of rabbits that live in the neighborhood have shown no interest in garden.  I've watched them nibble at the weed patch next to my garden but have seen no evidence of their helping themselves to my greens. {knock on wood}

where Julia and I differ; or, the proudest day of my life

Legend has it that someone once asked Julia Child, if there was food that she didn't like.  (And by legend I mean that I heard it once and don't feel like looking it up.)  She replied: arugula and cilantro.  I'm sure that I gasped when I first heard this, appalled and confused that THE Julia Child disliked what I consider one of the finest vegetables I know.  While, I am luke warm on cilantro, I. LOVE. ARUGULA.  I love it. I do.  I put it in everything from salads to  sandwiches to pasta and rice dishes.  Like spinach, you can it eat raw like lettuce or cooked but the flavor is nothing like spinach - nutty and spicy and refreshing.  It's just SO good, how could Julia be blind to it's charms?   

At least I know that I'm not alone in my adoration of this unappreciated green.  The president also eats it.  In his 2008 campaign, he took a lot of flack for making a comment about the price of arugula these days.  

And yeah, it can be a bit pricey.  But that's where the proudest day of my life part comes in.  You know how I told you a few weeks back about my vegetable garden.  Can you see where I'm going here?  I planted a row of arugula seeds and a week later I saw itty-bitty specks of green coming up.  And today, I thinned my row and threw some of the sprouts in my salad. Ta-dah!  A salad of greens that I grew myself.  This marks one of the proudest days of my life because now I know that in a zombie apocalypse or even just a regular apocalypse, I can grow my own food.  Granted, in an actual emergency it's arguable as to whether I would have died by starvation before I got to eat my zesty salad; I view this as an opportunity to develop useful skills and be grateful for my abundance. 

Kiss me, I'm Swedish!

I recently told one of my co-workers that as a kid I'd always wished that I was Irish, because, you know, of St. Patrick's Day.  He looked at me kinda funny and asked, how exactly do they celebrate St. Patrick's Day in Utah.  And I suddenly realized that while I saw St. Patrick's day as a day to wear green, eat green bagels and go to a parade that celebrated wolfhounds and bag pipes; St. Patrick's Day is a drinking holiday.  My co-worker said that even as a kid he pretty much knew that it was a drinking holiday.  

So, through my naivet'e I associated St. Patrick's Day with a celebration of a culture that I longed to be a part maybe mostly because, it seemed that it was the only celebration of it's kind in my community.  There simply wasn't a parade for those of Scottish or Scandinavian heritage.  Turns out, I do have a smidge of Irish blood in me but these days I'm pretty satisfied with the heritage I have and have found plenty of ways to celebrate it.  I'll still be wearing green today and there's a corned beef brisket in my fridge, because you know, it's less messy than adopting a wolfhound. 

A year or so ago, I bought 2 skeins of this:

 

I just couldn't help myself - I mean, it's GORGEOUS! And I was sure that I could find something to do with it.  Well, sometimes love just isn't enough.  And gorgeous yarn without a pattern is just a lovely skein in my stash. 

Thankfully, through the wonders of Ravelry, I found this pattern.  And turned one of these lovely skeins into a beautiful scarf for my Mom.  (Yes, this is in fact another story about unfinished Christmas gifts.)

I lament that scarfs are so difficult to photograph, because try as I might, my pictures just don't give it justice. 

I put this in the mail this week, along with Abbey's mittens.  And with that I officially succeeded in accomplishing one of my New Year's resolutions before the end of January.

Scotland on my mind

Today I entertained the idea of going back to Scotland.  (I visited briefly in 2005.)  Listfull daydreams of grey skies, green hills, and all things woolen kept creeping into my head, impeding all productivity.

It all started with the Fair.  I went to the Tanana Valley Fair last night and the local pipe band was playing - I'm a sucker for bagpipes.  I don't know which I like more the music, the kilts or those darling shoes pipers wear.  I became acutely nostalgic for Scotland.  

And, fairs mean livestock, sheep and goats and chickens and ducks and sheep and cows and sheep.  All the adorable, neatly groomed farm animals feed my fantasies of snug cottages with sheep grazing on green hillsides.  I have this dream of raising my own sheep, and using the fleece to create all sorts of lovely knitted, woven and felted goodies.  (I don't know that I would enjoy the reality of such an operation as the idea of it - so I think that it will stay a dream for a long long time.) 

If the fair weren't enough, I found the most painfully fabulous shop online today.  It took me a while to figure out where it was based but as soon as I realize it was Scotland, I spiraled into an unseemly obsession with returning to the land of my ancestors and immersing myself in fiber arts.  


Is not this the most delectable hot water bottle cover you could ever imagine?

I don't know what I would even do with a hot water bottle let alone a hot water bottle cover, but I want it. AND THEN, I want to know how to make it AND THEN I'll make dozens of lovely variations AND THEN I will live happily ever after...  

It's all quite logical really. 

(Have I mentioned how obsessed I have become about knitting? weaving? felting?  Let it be a cautionary tale to any who dare contemplate moving to Alaska, extreme northern latitudes can drive a person mad.)

And let's talk about this cushion, I covet it.  Makes me want a loom real bad so I could create beautiful tweeds like these. *sigh*

All my lusting over woolens has led me to conclude... unfortunately it appears that all rational thought has ceased and all I can think about is SHEEP and WOOLENS and SCOTTISH COTTAGES. 

Funny Story...

So I told you how I'm sort of obsessed with this little show called "So You Think You Can Dance" yeah, embarassing enough, I know.  Well tonight I was voting for my favorite dancer, Mr. Robert Roldan and well somehow I managed to call a complete stranger upwards of a hundred times.  How'd I make such a rookie mistake, well I'm not quite sure but I may have exposed the limits of my multitasking abilities.  

I was out to dinner with my friend Amanda and as I was playing with my blistering spicy bulgogi when I realized it was after 7.  Time to vote.  But I was prepared, I'd checked Roberts fan page before I left and KNEW that he was number 3 tonight.  So I looked in my call history and found the number for SYTYCD that I'd called last week.  So I started dialing and as usual I don't really listen to hear the message, just watch for the call to go through then hang up and redial.  However, I distinctly remember checking that I had the right number and hearing the SYTYCD message say thank you for calling for dancer 3.  So I kept calling and calling and calling and calling.  I rode to the ATM with Amanda, I came home, I helped her move some stuff into her car, I watched some SYTYCD, I made some instant pudding.  All the time dialing and redialing and redialing.  

But around 8:55, I looked down at my phone and I relized that I'd just dialed a 907 number.  907 is the area cod for Alaska.  Who had I just dialed?  Well it turns out that somewhere along the way, probablly while wisking instant pudding with one hand, dialing with the other and watching tv, I'd started redialing this guy who'd inquired about buying my car off Craigslist.  

My guess is he probably won't want to buy my car after receiving upwards of a hundred calls from me in the space of an hour.  Psycho much? At least I don't know him right?  Take this as a warning, look before you dial and beware the spicy pork bulgogi.   
   

SYTYCD

I think that we can all agree that summer is a pretty lovely season.  But you know what I really love about summer? Besides the sunshine, bbqs and popsicles, it's So You Think You Can Dance.  It's pretty much the best thing on TV in the summer (low standard, I know) but I sort of live for it each summer and it's become somewhat of a tradition.  My sisters and I watch it and rehash the performances and results each week.   

We're coming to the end of this season and it never fails to stay interesting.  And last week was just AWESOME! If you haven't been watching, you should know that this season has been plagued with and alarming number of injuries requiring contestants to drop out of the competition and allowing others to stay longer than they likely would have - it's been a bit frustrating to say the least.  Luckily, my favorite dancer, Robert Roldan, has managed to avoid injury and elimination and is still in the competition.  

I love Robert because he's got a really strong presence on stage: quirky and strong and handsome and skilled.  He's young but manages to look a bit more manly than the other boys on the show.  Roberto won me over early on in the season and I've been doing my darndest to keep him on the show ever since.  I'll be voting like mad again this Wednesday.  I consider myself a bit of a super fan because I vote before the show even starts.  Because I have a Utah phone number, I have to vote with Utah which for me in Alaska is 7-9 and the show doesn't starts til 8 up here.  

If you watch, who's your favorite? I really like all of the final 4 and even a few of those who have already left. 
   

my latest obsession

So I kind of have this thing for dark chocolate - I love it. 

I like chocolate to much to see it diluted with an excess of sugar and dairy.

I also enjoy a good kitkat bar from time to time. What's not to love?  They're crispy and fun to pull apart and have one of the best jingles in the candy world.  (And they share a name with the Kit Kat Club - notorious sex club in Berlin - which I find humorously ironic.)  

Until now I just put up with their sugary sweet milk chocolate, but not anymore.

kitkat dark

I'm sort of in heaven.  This may just be the best candy that you can buy in a gas station convenience store in Fairbanks, Ak.

I know that is a pretty high standard but this little guy is a worthy contender.

sooooooooo good

Way back in the fall, I decided to try my hand at baking bread.  I bought the bread bible and followed her detailed instructions with strict obedience.  My bread was not the light and fluffy loaves that the book promised and while edible and rather tasty, not worth the effort.  Learning to bake really good bread remains on my to do list - the long list, the list of things to do this decade, not this week. 

My goal is fueled by my picky palate.  I really like good bread but it is so hard to find.  One of the things that I hate most about moving is finding decent bread in a new town.  I generally don't venture any farther than the local grocery stores but have found through trial and error that there is a lot of lousy bread on the shelves.  My ideal loaf would be 100% whole grain (no white flour), tasty and the perfect balance of chewy and airy.

Well, I found it.  I found my ideal loaf.  And I can't tell you how happy I am to have really good bread every morning.  It is made by a bakery in Canada called Silver Hills and get this it is flourless.  That's right, it's not made of flour at all.  I didn't really understand how this could be so I did a little research.  Apparently, they start with whole grains (unprocessed kernels of wheat, oats etc.), and then they soak the kernels until they sprout, and then they mash them.  Voila! no flour necessary! They make a lot of different varieties using different combinations of grains and seeds but my very favorite is kamut.  Kamut is the kind of wheat that the ancient Egyptians grew - who knew, right?

From their website I have learned that their bread is only sold in the west coast states and BC.  So if you happen to live in one of these blessed states and you wanna try some mind blowingly good bread - I suggest you look for this and try it.  Am I obsessed? I don't think so, just really really happy to have found good bread.

Interested in trying sprouted bread but you can't find Silver Hills bread? Try Ezekiel Bread (sometimes in the freezer section).  It is also sprouted and quite good.  I especially like their raisin bread.

good fortune

Every once in a while something happens that is just so perfect that you can't quite believe your good fortune.  I'm talking about kind of good fortune that brings a gelato stand to your parent's neighborhood the very summer that you are home studying for the bar exam.  The sort of good fortune that you might call a blessing and then second guess whether such a trivial thing could be divine.  I mean I'd never sincerely pray for a gelato stand to open up in my neighborhood, yet I have many times dreamt of it.  And if there was ever a time when it might be most appreciated would be the summer I was plagued with the odious task of studying for the dreaded bar exam.  

Such good fortune just came my way.
  

For the past couple years I have been huge fan of a radio show called This American Life, it's kind of hard to explain but utterly brilliant and the next time you have an hour, give it a listen.  I promise it'll be educational, thought provoking and entertaining.  The host of This American Life is Ira Glass and the show is his creation.  

A few months ago I found out that he was going to be coming to Anchorage and I tried to devise a plan to get down to see him, but it was going to be complicated.  So, I sort of gave up on the idea of seeing Ira.  Until one day, I was listening to NPR when I heard that Ira was coming to Fairbanks.  My jaw dropped to the floor (not literally of coarse, but I nearly fell over I was so shocked).  I could NOT believe that Ira would come all the way to little old Fairbanks.  It was like a dream come true (I recognize how geeky I sound and am woefully unapologetic).  And my general opinion of Fairbanks improved significantly - I mean if Ira Glass is going to be coming here, maybe this town is cooler than I thought.

So, I bought my ticket well ahead of time and invited my friend Eva to come with me.  It was really important to find someone who had heard of Ira, and I was glad to find out that my instincts were correct, Eva is a fellow fan of Mr. Glass and his remarkable show.  

While I am familiar with Ira's weekly radio show, I wasn't quite sure what this event would be like but being a super geeky fan as I am, I didn't really care.  All I knew was that Ira is brilliant and I was facinated see whatever he was doing in Fairbanks.  It turned out to be part the making of the show and part Ira's theories on journalism and story telling.  And there were moments where it felt a little bit like a stand up comedy routine - everyone was laughing A LOT.  He shared clips from past shows and talked about the making of the show.  I was really impressed by his insights about story telling.  Story telling is a really significant form of communication and and fascilitates learning and understanding.  Through effective story telling, it is possible to experience vicariously other times, places, interactions and emotions.  The event is really hard to explain but to summarize, it was brilliant and thought provoking.  And extremely good fortune.

farmer's market

Ahhhhhh, Saturday. After sleeping half the day away I gave up my comfy bed, realized it was a beautiful day not to be wasted and made my way to the farmer's market. Alaskans are serious about their farmer's markets. The parking lot was full but I managed to see a car about to pull out so I squeezed my little car between 2 ginormous pickups and started shopping.

I had a hard time deciding what to buy but in the end I could not say not to the bag of lingonberries, a jar or Honey, a bottle of rhubarb syrup and a bunch of carrots.

I have been negotiating a use for the lingonberries since I first considered buying them. What to do? I asked the lady that sold them if she had any suggestions and she said that she eats them raw or frozen. I wasn't real excited about eating them raw because I remember being serve fresh puolukoita in Finland and they were too sour and bitter to eat. However, I pause at the idea of perverting my beautiful berries with loads of sugar to make preserves. My third option would be to bake them into something - I'll probably do that.